Wednesday, January 28, 2015

As Expert Consultant on Islamic divorce
obtained from the Middle East, Central Asia and other Islamic nations, this
author has been privileged to have been able to defend, successfully, clients
by submitting legal opinions and affidavits in their support on issues related
to Islamic divorce to State and Federal Courts and to Immigration Boards.
Some of these cases have been reported by major U.S. law journals. Following is
a landmark case at New York Supreme Court of Westchester County, in which this
author submitted an affidavit on behalf of a client. The honorable Court agreed
with our argument and granted the client recognition of a divorce decree
obtained in Abu Dhabi, including custody of children and a mahr of $250,000.
You may read the judgment of the Supreme Court on the following link:

Prior to the advent of the Islamic Revolution of 1979
in Iran, family laws under the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-79) witnessed major
changes in that field, the Family protection Law of 1967 and its amendments in
1975 abolished extrajudicial divorce, instituted the wife’s right to divorce
under certain conditions, limited polygamy by making it subject to judicial
approval, and authorized the courts to rule on arrangements related to the
maintenance of a divorced couple’s children.

In theory, the reforms under the Pahlavi rule were
more advanced than the previous Iranian family laws. For example the reforms
made it harder for a man to abandon his wife and prevented him from threatening
her with the possibility of a sudden and rapid divorce and the loss of custody
of her children. Although the new reforms embedded in the Family Protection Law
remained partially based on the Shi’i
Ja’fari School of law, for instance by accepting all the conditions that
entitled either party to obtain a divorce, such as insanity and other disabling
illnesses. These conditions were expanded and included in Article 11 an
important change in the event a husband married a second wife without the
consent of the first one, the latter could apply for divorce:

(1)If
either spouse received a prison sentence of five or more years.

(2)A
dangerous addiction on the part of either spouse which could, in the opinion of
the court, be hazardous to the welfare of the family.

(3)Marriage
of the husband to another woman without the consent of his first wife.

(4)When
either partner abandoned the family life. This was subject to the court’s
confirmation.

(5)If
a husband or wife has, on account of the commission of a crime repugnant to the
position and dignity of the family of the other party, been, according to the
final judgment of a court of law, found guilty. The question whether or not the
crime is repugnant to the position and dignity of the other party shall be
determined by the court after taking into consideration the position and
circumstances of both the parties as well as the custom and other standards.

Article 14 of the Family Protection Law requires the
husband to get permission from the judge in order to marry a second wife, it
reads:

When a man, already
having a wife, desires to marry another woman, he shall obtain permission from
the court of law. The court shall give the permission only when it has taken
the necessary steps, and, if possible, has made an inquiry from the present
wife of the man, in order to assure the financial potentiality and ability of
the man for doing justice [to both wives].

In case the man marries
[another woman] without obtaining the due permission from the court, he shall
be liable for the punishment provided in section 5 of the Marriage Act f
1310-16[iii] (1931-37 A.D.)

The significance of the Family Protection Law of 1967
was threefold. First, it curbed the unilateral privilege of men regarding
divorce and polygamy. No longer could a man divorce his wife readily or in
absentia. Nor could he marry a second wife without the permission of the court.
It was mandatory for both married couple to apply to a court of law for a
certificate of non-reconciliation before a divorce would be granted. Second, a
woman could petition for divorce under certain condition regardless of whether
the privilege of acting as her husband’s agent was stipulated in the marriage contract.
Third, parent had to make arrangements for adequate care of the children before
divorce could be granted.

In practice, and according to the Islamic law, a man
could always marry a second wife, provided he had the financial means to do so,
while a woman could only file a petition for a judicial certificate allowing
her to annul the marriage.

The reform also stated that “a husband may, with the
approval of the court, prevent his wife from an occupation which is repugnant
to the interest of his or her family or position” (Article 15).

The Family Law was consistent with the more tolerant
reading of Islam and lifting the inequity imposed on women, protecting
children’s rights, and safeguarding men’s dignity. Husband and wife shared
joint responsibility for the family the adult woman was entitled to
self-guardianship, rather than that of a male family member, and had the
freedom to exercise it independently and the minimum age of marriage was
increased to eighteen for both men and women.

As to the mut’a
marriages, the Family Protection Law did not touch that institution, which
allows a man to contract a temporary marriage according to Shi’a law.

In general, while the Family Protection Law of 1967
constituted an important step toward reducing discrimination against women, its
impact was limited in its scope, and soon the Law was replaced aftermath of the
Islamic Revolution of 1979.

THE
IMPACT OF ISLAMIC REVOLUTION ON IRANIAN FAMILY LAW

As soon as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni took the power
in 1979, the Family Protection Law was suspended along with other laws that
were considered ‘un-Islamic’. On December 1979, the Revolution adopted a new
Constitution based on Islamic shari’a.
Article 19 declares that “All people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or
tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights and color, race, language, and
the like, do[es] not bestow any privilege”.

Article 21 deals exclusively with women, prescribing,
that the government must “create a favorable environment for the restoration of
[women’s rights; respect mothers, particularly during pregnancy and
childbearing; support widows, aged women and women without support and award
guardianship of children to worthy mothers, in order to protect the interests
of the children, in the absence of a legal guardian”. This notion is also
stated in the preamble of the Constitution where it reads:

Women were drawn away
from the family unit and the condition of being a ‘mere thing’, or ‘being a
mere tool for works’ in the service of consumerism and exploitation.
Re-assumption of the task of bringing up religiously minded men and women,
ready to work and fight together in life’s fields of activity, is a serious and
precious duty of motherhood.

It is important to note that the Revolution granted
women ‘intellectual rights’ unseen before in the history of Iran. Both the
preamble and the first paragraph of Article 21 underlined the need to grant
women for their active part in the Revolution their ‘intellectual rights.’ This
made the government of Iran embark on an extensive policy for educating women,
a policy that resulted in one of the highest levels of female education in the
entire region.

This policy, however, contrasted with the new Civil
Code of 1979, which penalized women by authorizing a minimum marriage age of
nine years for girls the marriage of virgin women required the consent of their
fathers; polygamy was reinstated without any legal restrains; commanded a
wife’s obedience to her husband as a necessary condition in order to obtain
maintenance; allowed mut’a marriage
as a recognized institution (Articles 1075-77);
children were placed in the custody of the father in the event of
divorce because “any child born during married life belongs to the husband”
(Article 1158). And, in compliance with Qur’anic provisions, Article 1133 of
the Civil Code stated that “A husband can repudiate his wife any time he
wishes.” Additionally, the Special Civil Courts Act Article 3/2 provides that:

If a husband wishes a
divorce in accordance with Article 1133 of the Civil Code, the court must first
refer the case to arbitration in conformity with the Holy verse (i.e. the
Qur’an): ‘If you fear a breach between the two, bring forth an arbiter from his
people and from her people an arbiter, if they desire to set things right; God
will compose their differences; surely God is all-knowing, all-aware.’
Permission to divorce shall be granted to the husband, if reconciliation
between the spouses has not materialized.

This means that, in compliance with the Qur’an, a
husband is guaranteed divorce without having to provide any excuse for it, but
there has to be a process of arbitration. The law requires that process to be
handled by a judge. Article 1109 of the Civil Code allows a husband to invoke
his wife’s disobedience (nushuz) in
order to avoid paying her the maintenance due during the idda.

MORE
POST REVOLUTION CHANGES TO FAMILY LAW

As we noticed in the previous paragraph, the new law
was more adaptive to the Qur’an than the pre-Revolution Family Protection Law,
and it took away some of the gains that women were able to achieve under the
Pahlavi rule. But the rapid changes in the social and educational aspects of
the Iranian society after the Revolution, followed by the Iran-Iraq war
(1980-88), brought a gradual modification to the laws. The war forced women, to
leave their homes and seek work outside. The period also witnessed a rise in
women’s’ high education and made them compete for better positions in the job
market. These two factors pushed women to delay their marriage and have fewer
children. United Nation’s Population Division of the Department of Economic and
Social Affairs says that between 1975 and 1980, the total fertility number was
6.5. The projected level for Iran’s 2005 to 2010 birth rate is fewer than two.

The competition in job opportunities in Iran created a
conflict in the sphere of family. Women became influential in the public arena
and started competing with men in the work force, and female organization
embarked on efforts to amend the family law. In early 1982, and under pressure,
the Iranian Parliament (Majles) added
two provisions to the marriage contract first; the divorce wife was given the
right to claim half of the wealth acquired during marriage, as long as the
divorce was not deemed her fault. It delegates the right of divorce to the
wife, through the intermediary of the court, where certain conditions occurs.

Articles 181 and 1883 of the Civil Code stated that
the children of martyrs were to be under the paternal grandfather’s custody.
This meant that the payment for the care of the orphans made by the Martyr’s
Foundation also went to them. Under pressure from women organizations in Iran,
the parliament passed a bill transferring the right of guardianship and
tutorship of the martyr’s minors to their mothers, even after a mother’s
remarriage.

In 1987, the Iranian parliament approved more benefits
for widows and minors of the martyrs mainly better pensions for them, which is
the equivalent of the late husband’s last salary. The Martyr’s Foundation also
contributed with several benefits, such as free housing and free school
tuition.

In 1989 the parliament established a new procedure for
men who divorce their wives, the civil courts which have the right to approve a
divorce. Thus, in order to divorce, a man had to produce good reasons and the
court has the authority to consider those reasons as sufficient and may refuse
the divorce. But this seems to violate the Qur’anic provision, which allows a
man to divorce his wife, anytime and in any place of his choosing.

DISCLAIMER:While every effort
has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to
provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be
discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific or legal advice on the
information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

Gabriel Sawma is a lawyer with Middle East background,
and a recognized authority on Islamic law of marriage, divorce and custody of
children, Hindu marital disputes in U.S. courts, and Iran divorce in USA.

·Professor of Middle
East Constitutional and Islamic law,

·Expert Consultant on
Islamic divorce in US Courts and Canada,

·Expert Consultant on
Hindu divorce in U.S. courts,

·Expert Consultant on
Iranian Shi’a divorce in USA,

·Expert Consultant on
Islamic finance.

Admitted to the
Lebanese Bar Association; Associate Member of the New York State Bar
Association and the American Bar Association.

Prof. Sawma lectured
at the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) in New York State and
wrote many affidavits to immigration authorities, Federal Courts, and family
State Courts in connection with recognition of Islamic foreign divorces in the
U.S., Hindu divorces, and Iranian marital conflicts.

Taught Islamic Finance
for MBA program at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

As Expert Consultant on Islamic divorce
obtained from the Middle East, Central Asia and other Islamic nations, this
author has been privileged to have been able to defend, successfully, clients
by submitting legal opinions and affidavits in their support on issues related
to Islamic divorce to State and Federal Courts and to Immigration Boards.
Some of these cases have been reported by major U.S. law journals. Following is
a landmark case at New York Supreme Court of Westchester County, in which this
author submitted an affidavit on behalf of a client. The honorable Court agreed
with our argument and granted the client recognition of a divorce decree
obtained in Abu Dhabi, including custody of children and a mahr of $250,000.
You may read the judgment of the Supreme Court on the following link:

The United Arab
Emirates codified their Code of Personal Status (Code) No. 28 in 2005 (Arabic, qanun al-ahwal al-shakhsiyyah). It was
published officially in the Gazette under no. 439 of 11/30, 2005. Custody of
the children is covered by articles 142-158 of the Code. It is largely based on
the Maliki School of jurisprudence, and to a lesser degree on the Hanbali
School, then Shafi’i, followed by Hanafi. The Code identifies the welfare of
the child [maslahat al-hadana] when
determining eligibility for custody and its duration. The general rule under
Islamic Shari’a in the Sunni traditions is that all Islamic Schools of
Jurisprudence hold that the mother, whether living with her husband or
divorced, has the first claim to custody of her infant child. Nevertheless,
these Schools differ with regard to the duration of female custodianship, and infancy
is not always defined in terms of age limits.

CUSTODY PROVISIONS IN THE UAE CODE OF PERSONAL
STATUS

Article 142 of the ode
defines custody as following: “Custody is for providing the care, education and
protection of the child in a way that does not contradict the right of the
guardian.” This follows the approach of many countries whose family law is
based on Islamic Shari’a, whereby custody of the infant remains with the mother,
while guardianship is preserved to the father.

This means the mother is seen as custodian, responsible for
the day-to-day needs of the child, such as food and sanitation, while the
father is responsible for the financial needs of the child, as well as
providing him/her with shelter, reasonable medical care when needed and holding
the child's passport.

DURATION OF FEMALES CUSTODIANSHIP

Article 156 (1) of the
Code states the following: “Female custodianship ends when the boy reaches age
of eleven and female reaches the age of thirteen, unless the court, in the
interest of the child, decides to extend [the custody of the mother] until the
son reaches bulugh (puberty/maturity)
and the daughter consummates her marriage.”

The traditional Schools
of Jurisprudence in Sunni Islam, mother’s custody in Hanbali School runs from
birth to the age of seven for both, boys and girls. At the age of seven, the
Hanbali School gives the child the right to choose which parent he or she wants
to live with. In the Maliki School, the son will remain in the custody of his
mother until he reaches puberty (bulugh),
whereas the girl remains in her mother’s custody until she consummates her
marriage (dukhul). The Arabic term bulugh is not defined by the Maliki
School, but most scholars believe it is the age of fifteen. The Maliki School
does not confer a right of choice to the children. The Hanafi School determines
mother’s custody at the age of seven for boys and nine for girls; whereas the
Shafi’i gives the mother right to custody at the age of seven for both boys and
girls.

ELIGIBILITY FOR CUSTODY IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Article 146 of the Code
of Personal Status states the following: “Custody is the right of the mother
and then that of females within a prohibited degree of kinship [muharam], whereby maternal relatives
have priority over paternal relatives taking into consideration the closest
degree of kinship, with the father being the exception according to the following
rank, and provided that the judge take into account the interest of the child.”
According to article 146, the father comes second in a long list of entitled
custodians.

QUALIFICATION OF THE CUSTODIAN

Article 143 of the Code
specifies the requirements needed for the custodian of children to be
qualified: puberty, sanity, health, ability to take care of the child, take
care of the health of the child to avoid contagious diseases, and bee clean of
any court judgments that is related to honor.

Article 144 contains two
separate lists of requirement for women and men. Accordingly, a woman is
prohibited from living with a husband who would not be legally prohibited from
marrying the child whose custody is at issue. Article 144 also has a
requirement that the mother should not re-marry, otherwise, she loses her right
to custody. This last requirement does not apply to the husband, who has the
right to marry up to four wives at the same time and keep the children under
his custody. The husband is only barred from having custody of a girl to whom
he does not have prohibited degree of kinship.

It is important to note
that the prohibition of a female to be custodian if she remarries is not
absolute; rather it can be waived whenever a continuation of female custody is
considered to be in the best interest of the child.

NON-MUSLIM MOTHER LOSES CUSTODY OF HER CHILDREN WHEN
THE CHILD IS FIVE YEARS OLD

If the mother of the
child is not Muslim, she loses her custody of her own child unless the judge
rules otherwise. However, article 145 states that in such a case, duration of
the mother’s custody to her child ceases when the child reaches the age of
five, and it does not matter if the child is a boy or a girl. In other words,
if there is a divorce, or the husband dies, the mother is prohibited from
having custody of her children unless the court decides otherwise. If the court
decides to grant the mother custody of the children, she can only have the
custody until the children reach the age of five. After that, custody goes to
the father.

ENFORCEMENT OF
FOREIGN COURT JUDGMENTS OF CUSTODY AND VISITATION RIGHTS

Custody
orders of foreign courts are notenforceable in
the United Arab Emirates. Foreign court orders of child support are not
enforceable too. A U.S. citizen parent with a court order from the United
States granting him or her custody maypresent such
order in the court of the UAE; the court may take such an order into
consideration, but will not be binding in a custody proceeding.

Non-custodial
parents are guaranteed visitation rights, but may have to seek approval from
the appropriate authorities.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP

The
United Arab Emirates do not recognize dual citizenship. Children born of a UAE
father citizen take the citizenship of their father at birth, regardless where
the child was born.

DISCLAIMER:While every effort
has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to
provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed
with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific or legal advice on the information
provided and related topics, please contact the author.

Gabriel Sawma is a lawyer with Middle East background,
and a recognized authority on Islamic law of marriage, divorce and custody of
children, Hindu marital disputes in U.S. courts, and Iran divorce in USA.

·Professor of Middle
East Constitutional and Islamic law,

·Expert Consultant on
Islamic divorce in US Courts and Canada,

·Expert Consultant on
Hindu divorce in U.S. courts,

·Expert Consultant on
Iranian Shi’a divorce in USA,

·Expert Consultant on
Islamic finance.

Admitted to the
Lebanese Bar Association; Associate Member of the New York State Bar
Association and the American Bar Association.

Prof. Sawma lectured
at the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) in New York State and
wrote many affidavits to immigration authorities, Federal Courts, and family
State Courts in connection with recognition of Islamic foreign divorces in the
U.S., Hindu divorces, and Iranian marital conflicts.

Taught Islamic Finance
for MBA program at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Monday, January 26, 2015

As Expert Consultant on Islamic divorce
obtained from the Middle East, Central Asia and other Islamic nations, this
author has been privileged to have been able to defend, successfully, clients
by submitting legal opinions and affidavits in their support on issues related
to Islamic divorce to State and Federal Courts and to Immigration Boards.
Some of these cases have been reported by major U.S. law journals. Following is
a landmark case at New York Supreme Court of Westchester County, in which this
author submitted an affidavit on behalf of a client. The honorable Court agreed
with our argument and granted the client recognition of a divorce decree
obtained in Abu Dhabi, including custody of children and a mahr of $250,000.
You may read the judgment of the Supreme Court on the following link:

The United Arab
Emirates (UAE) is a union of seven emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah,
Sharjah, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Qaiwain. These emirates are located
in the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering
Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south. Article 7 of the constitution
of the UAE states “Islam is the official religion of the Union. The Islamic Shari’a shall be a main source of
legislation in the union. The official language of the Union is Arabic.” This
means the law of marriage, divorce, custody of children and inheritance is
governed by the Qur’an and sayings and deeds of the Prophet of Islam, which
constitute the major elements of Islamic Shari’a.

In 2005, the UAE
enacted Federal Law No. 28 to govern matrimonial issues in what is called
Matters of Personal Status or Personal Status Law (PSL). The PSL covers rules
over marriage, divorce, guardianship, maintenance (Arabic nafaqah) and inheritance. Article 2 of PSL states that its
provisions are based on Islamic fiqh
(jurisprudence), and if no ruling exists in Islamic jurisprudence, a
determination will be made in accordance with the “prevailing opinion in the
Sunni Schools in the following ranking: Maliki,
Hanbali, Shafi’i, and Hanafi” followed by “general principles of the Islamic Shari’a and social justice.”

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

Islamic marriage is a
contract with two major elements: an offer by one party, and acceptance by the other
party. Article 39 of the PSL mandates
that the marriage of a woman over eighteen must be approved by a male guardian,
otherwise, the marriage will be considered “null” and the couple would be
separated. In addition to that, the law requires the presence of two Muslim
male witnesses for the validity of the marriage between two Muslim couples, although
Christian and Jewish witnesses are acceptable if one of the couple is Christian
or Jew.

MUSLIM MAN’S ABILITY TO MARRY MORE THAN ONE WOMAN

The Personal Status Law
of the United Arab Emirates does not prohibit a Muslim man from marrying a
Christian or Jewish woman as we mentioned earlier. But on the other hand, a Muslim man is
allowed to marry up to four wives at the same time. This means that, even
though he is married to a Christian or Jewish wife, he can still marry up to
four wives.

CHILDREN BORN OF SUCH MARRIAGES ARE CONSIDERED
MUSLIMS

Under the law of Islam,
children born of mixed marriages, involving a Muslim man and non-Muslim woman
are considered Muslims. The religion of children born of a Muslim father,
always follow the religion of the father. It does not matter even if the child
is baptized in the Christian faith, he is still and will always be regarded as
Muslim, and is governed by Islamic Shari’a.

CUSTODY OF THE CHILDREN IN THE EVENT OF DIVORCE

Marriages between UAE
nationals and foreign-born wives are more likely to end in divorce. According
to some accounts, the UAE has the highest divorce rate in the Gulf region; in
2005, it reached 46 percent. While women, who are UAE nationals, receive
financial aid from the government after divorce, women are not eligible for such
aid.

In the event of
divorce, or death of the husband, a Christian or Jewish woman married to a UAE
national, the wife will lose her custody to her children. This is based on
Islamic jurisprudence which says, a person outside the religion of Islam is not
qualified to have custody of Muslim children.

WIFE CANNOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITH THE CHILDREN
WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE HUSBAND

Foreign women married
to national citizens are not free to leave the country with their children;
their children must remain in the UAE unless the court decides otherwise.
Islamic Shari’a does not allow a
divorce wife to travel outside the country with the children without permission
of the husband or a court order. If the husband is dead, the wife can leave the
country with the children only if the guardian of the children, who has been
appointed by the father before his death, or a guardian who has been appointed
by a judge, permits the wife to travel with the children. If such permission is
not granted, the wife might have to leave the country without the children.
U.S. law cannot force a foreign country to bring the children back to the
United States.

A HUSBAND MARRIED TO A FOREIGN WOMAN MAY DECIDE TO
TAKE THE CHILDREN TO HIS COUNTRY AND STAY THERE

A Christian or Jewish
woman who is married to a Muslim citizen of the UAE should know that if the
husband travels with the children to his country and decides to stay there with
the children, she is not afforded protection of U.S. law to bring the children
back to the United States. For example, if the husband, who is national of UAE
travels with his wife and their children to his country, and then chooses to
stay in UAE with the children, the wife may not be able to bring her children
back to the United States. The law of UAE will not allow the wife to bring back
her children to the U.S. without permission of the husband.

Furthermore, she may
not be able to stay in the United Arab Emirates since her status as resident is
based on her husband’s sponsorship. If the husband withdraws his sponsorship,
she would be subject to deportation without being able to bring her children
with her. There is no guarantee that she will be able to obtain an entry visa
to that country in the future.

CONVERSION OF ONE SPOUSE TO ISLAM

Under Islamic Shari’a, if a non-Muslim woman married
to a non-Muslim man decides to convert to Islam, the marriage is suspended
until her husband converts too. In theory, she could leave the non-Muslim
husband and marry a Muslim man. This is perfectly legal under Islamic law, and
it has a reference in the Qur’an, which reads: “O ye who believe [Muslims],
when there come to you believing women refugees, examine them. Allah knows best
as to their faith; if you ascertain that they are believers [Muslims], then do
not send them back to unbelievers [non-Muslims]. They are not lawful [wives]
for the unbelievers, nor are [the unbelievers] lawful [husbands] for them.”
(Qur’an 60: 10)

If a non-Muslim husband
converts to Islam, a new marriage is not needed. He can marry up to four wives
at one time.

INHERITANCE

Under the rules of
Islamic Shari’a, a daughter inherits
half of her brother’s shares. When a husband dies, the widow inherits
one-eighth of his assets if he has children. If he dies childless, the wife
inherits one-fourth. The rest of his assets are passed on to the husband’s
closest relatives. If no son is born of the marriage, daughters alone cannot
inherit all the assets of their parents; in such a case, part of the assets
goes to the sons of the father’s brother.

However, a non-Muslim
woman marrying a Muslim man from the United Arab Emirates does not inherit
anything if the husband dies unless she is mentioned in his will as a
beneficiary. Such a will cannot be valid if its purpose is to deny a legitimate
person from getting his or her share under Islamic law.

DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS

In the event of
divorce, the wife does not share in the marital assets. There is no
distribution of assets in Islamic law. The only amount of money the wife
receives in the event of divorce is the mahr
as stipulated in the marriage contract. It is therefore very important for a
woman who is embarking on marrying a male citizen of the United Arab Emirates
to pay attention to the amount of mahr
when she signs the marriage contract. Islamic Shari’a does not entitle the wife to share the assets of her
husband no matter how diligent she was in protecting and promoting the family
business.

You have to remember
too that the husband is allowed to marry three other women. This tactic is often
used by the husband to avoid divorcing his wife, since divorcing her would make
him liable to the mahr. On the other
hand, if the wife seeks divorce through khul’,
she may have to give back the mahr to
her husband.

I suggest that a woman
looking to marry a Muslim man to do further research about her rights and
obligations under Islamic law. She has less protection under Islamic Shari’a
than U.S. law.

MUSLIM WOMEN ARE PROHIBITED FROM MARRYING NON-MUSLIM
MEN

Under Islamic Shari’a, a non-Muslim man is not allowed
to marry Muslim woman. The only way he can do so is to convert to Islam. The children
of such union are Muslims, and all Muslims are, by virtue of the Islamic Shari’a, prohibited from leaving Islam.
In certain Muslim countries, the penalty for leaving Islam is death by
execution.

DISCLAIMER:While every effort
has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to
provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed
with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific or legal advice on the information
provided and related topics, please contact the author.

Gabriel Sawma is a lawyer with Middle East background,
and a recognized authority on Islamic law of marriage, divorce and custody of
children, Hindu marital disputes in U.S. courts, and Iran divorce in USA.

·Professor of Middle
East Constitutional and Islamic law,

·Expert Consultant on
Islamic divorce in US Courts and Canada,

·Expert Consultant on
Hindu divorce in U.S. courts,

·Expert Consultant on
Iranian Shi’a divorce in USA,

·Expert Consultant on
Islamic finance.

Admitted to the
Lebanese Bar Association; Associate Member of the New York State Bar
Association and the American Bar Association.

Prof. Sawma lectured
at the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) in New York State and
wrote many affidavits to immigration authorities, Federal Courts, and family
State Courts in connection with recognition of Islamic foreign divorces in the
U.S., Hindu divorces, and Iranian marital conflicts.

Taught Islamic Finance
for MBA program at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

For more information the
law of marriage, divorce, custody of children and inheritance in the United
Arab Emirates, please visit our websites at the following links, where you will
find most of our articles:

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About Me

Gabriel Sawma, a lawyer with Middle East background, dealing with International Law, mainly the European Union Law, the Middle East Law and Islamic Shari'a law.
Professor of Middle East Constitutional Law,Islamic Law, Arabic and Arab Culture and Civilization at Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ. Professor of Islamic Finance at the University of Liverpool, UK.
Expert consultant on Middle East affairs, terrorism and authority on Islamic Shari'a, including Islamic marriage contracts, the mahr, and Islamic divorce in USA, http://www.islamicdivorceinusa.com
Expert consultant on Islamic banking and finance.
Expert consultant on Islamic inheritance and child custody.
Admitted to the Lebanese Bar Association of Beirut. Associate Member of The New York State Bar Association, and the American Bar Associations. Wrote extensively on Islamic and Hindu divorces in USA.
Visit our website at http://www.islamicdivorceinusa.com
Email: gabrielsawma@yahoo.com
Tel: 609-915-2237